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Music students to represent Hope at prestigious Times Higher Education Awards

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Music students Meghan McGrath and Mark Williams are set to represent Liverpool Hope at the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards in London this week.

Liverpool Hope is shortlisted in the Excellence and Innovation in the Arts category for its ongoing work with Milapfest, the UK’s South Asian Arts Development Trust. This is the first time that the university has been shortlisted.

The Milapfest Institute for Indian Arts is based at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus, creating a one-of-a-kind resource in the UK. It includes more than 6,000 hours of live Indian music recordings, a 30-year-old digital archive, and a large physical archive. Since its inception, the Institute has embarked on a wide-ranging programme, including a series of performances at the University's Capstone Theatre, which have attracted students from Milapfest’s Arts School, university students and public visitors.

In February 2016, Liverpool Hope also welcomed Dr Anil Srinivasan as a Visiting Lecturer in Comparative Musicology.

Meghan McGrath and Mark Williams both worked with Dr Srinivasan during his time at Hope.

Mark said: “I really enjoyed the sessions with Dr Srinivasan. It was fascinating to compare the different scales used in Indian music with those used in Western music. I had a go at using the Indian music scale to score my own melody. I especially liked learning about how Indian music has a strong relationship with colour, and the context of sacred music. I am from a popular music background, and working with Anil gave me a really in-depth introduction to Indian culture and music.”

Meghan said: “I feel my experiences have been altogether positive and enlightening, through both engaging lectures as part of my musicology module and performances given at the University. I feel that I have gained knowledge on the subject that I would not have had the opportunity to obtain if it wasn't for the relationship between Hope and Milapfest, and that it has increased my interest and appreciation.”

Senior Lecturer in Music Dr Manuella Blackburn has also worked with Milapfest to create ‘Instruments INDIA’, which developed from a research proposal funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Milapfest also plays a major part in the University’s public arts festival, the Cornerstone Arts Festival, and in 2014 the university and Milapfest undertook their most diverse collaboration yet - In-Sieme. This sold out performance brought together the UK’s Indian music ensemble Tarang and the Western Classical ensemble Gli Archi del Cherubino from Italy. This has led to further exploration of the connections between Indian music and other genres, such as performances at the Liverpool International Jazz Festival which is hosted by the university.

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